ALABAMA POWER COMPANY BIRMINGHAM, AL COOSA – WARRIOR RELICENSING PROJECT E5 Toxins Issue Report May 2004 Prepared by: ALABAMA POWER COMPANY BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA COOSA – WARRIOR RELICENSING PROJECT E5 Toxins Issue Report May 2004 Prepared by: ALABAMA POWER COMPANY BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA COOSA – WARRIOR RELICENSING PROJECT TOXINS ISSUE REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1-1 2.0 TOXINS IN THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT............................................................ 2-1 3.0 REGULATION AND MONITORING OF TOXINS IN THE COOSA AND WARRIOR BASINS ........................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 ALABAMA FISH TISSUE MONITORING PROGRAM (FTMP) ................... 3-1 4.0 FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORIES .......................................................................... 4-1 5.0 TOXINS OF CONCERN IN THE COOSA AND WARRIOR BASINS ....................... 5-1 5.1 MERCURY.......................................................................................................... 5-1 5.2 DIOXINS ............................................................................................................. 5-2 5.3 ARSENIC ............................................................................................................ 5-2 5.4 POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS) .................................................. 5-3 5.4.1 SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION...................................................... 5-6 5.4.2 REMEDIATION EFFORTS.................................................................... 5-7 5.5 LAKE STRATIFICATION AND CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS............... 5-8 6.0 CONCLUSIONS.............................................................................................................. 6-1 7.0 INFORMATION SOURCES/LITERATURE CITED.................................................... 7-1 LIST OF TABLES Table 5-1: Summary of Current Fish Consumption Advisories For Sections Of APC Reservoirs In the Coosa River Basin (ADPH, 2003)...........................................5-5 - i - LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A E5 – Toxins Issue Sheet APPENDIX B Current Alabama Fish Consumption Advisories Summarized ADPH Fish Tissue Sampling Methodology Summarized ADPH Fish Consumption Advisory Methodology ADPH “Get Hooked on Health” Publication APPENDIX C ATSDR Mercury Fact Sheet EPA Mercury Impacts on Fish Advisories Fact Sheet APPENDIX D ATSDR Dioxins Fact Sheet APPENDIX E ATSDR Arsenic Fact Sheet EPA CCA Cancellation Fact Sheet APPENDIX F ATSDR PCBs Fact Sheet EPA PCB Impacts on Fish Advisories Fact Sheet APPENDIX G EPA Anniston PCB Site Fact Sheet - ii - ALABAMA POWER COMPANY BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA COOSA – WARRIOR RELICENSING PROJECT TOXINS ISSUE REPORT 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Alabama Power Company (APC) is currently relicensing nine hydroelectric projects on the Coosa and Warrior Rivers. The relicensing process includes a multi-year cooperative effort between APC and interested stakeholders to address operational, recreational, and ecological concerns associated with hydroelectric project operations. During the initial (scoping) phase of the relicensing process, APC consulted a wide variety of stakeholders, including state and federal resource agencies, non-governmental organizations, and concerned citizens, seeking their input on important relicensing issues. Relicensing stakeholders identified several issues they believe need to be addressed during this relicensing process, including toxin levels within the Coosa and Warrior River hydroelectric projects. As part of the cooperative process, APC worked with stakeholders to further refine the toxins issue, which is presented in the E5 Toxins Issue Sheet (Appendix A). The primary purpose of this report is to educate stakeholders on the status of toxins and resulting fish advisories within the Coosa and Warrior projects. Specifically, it provides a baseline of information needed to address specific concerns identified in the Issue Sheet, including: • A summary of how toxins enter into and cycle within the aquatic environment, • Information on how toxins are regulated and monitored in the Coosa and Warrior Basins, • A summary of which toxins are of concern within the project boundaries of APC’s Coosa and Warrior developments, and • A summary of the current fish advisories in effect for these toxins. Any questions regarding this report should be directed to APC relicensing staff. 1-1 2.0 TOXINS IN THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT During the last century, industrial manufacturing processes, farming practices, and common household chores have all benefited from the use of artificial chemicals. However, some of these substances have either accidentally or intentionally been released into the environment, sometimes resulting in toxic impacts. Toxins are generally stable and persistent substances that in some cases can accumulate over time in aquatic and terrestrial species and habitats. In the aquatic environment, toxins often accumulate in sediments where they may be taken up by aquatic plants. Some toxins accumulate at successively higher concentration as they are passed up the food chain from green plants, to small fish and invertebrates, to larger game fish, and may eventually build up to levels that may be toxic to human consumers. This process is known as bioaccumulation. Whether or not a toxin bioaccumulates up the food chain is the primary factor determining the potential for human exposure through fish consumption. 2-1 3.0 REGULATION AND MONITORING OF TOXINS IN THE COOSA AND WARRIOR BASINS Several federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) share in the responsibility of regulating or addressing toxins at some level in the Coosa and Warrior River Basins. The EPA regulates chemicals and toxic substances through specific provisions of the Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, and several other statutes. The EPA also monitors and responds to concerns about environmentally-accessible toxins through its Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) Chemical Program. For aquatic systems, the EPA requires that state and local governments protect people from potential risks of eating contaminated fish and shellfish by monitoring their waters and issuing consumption advisories when necessary. In Alabama, this requirement is fulfilled through the state Fish Tissue Monitoring Program (FTMP), which is jointly administered by ADEM and ADPH. Since toxins accumulate in lake and stream sediments, the dredging of these sediments can influence the movement of toxins in aquatic systems. The ACOE regulates lake and river sediment dredging through their Dredge and Fill Permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The APC permitting process addresses the requirements associated with dredging. 3.1 Alabama Fish Tissue Monitoring Program (FTMP) The FTMP was initiated as a cooperative effort between the ADEM, the ADPH, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to monitor fish tissues throughout the state for toxins posing a risk to human health. As part of the FTMP, several waterbodies are sampled each year based on a predetermined rotation schedule. Water bodies that have been 3-1 identified as having elevated concentrations of bioaccumulative fish tissue contaminants, or greater potential for contamination, are more closely monitored. Since most toxins are concentrated in the fatty tissues of fish, field collections occur in the fall of each year when fish are preparing for winter and most pollutants of concern would be expected to be stored at their highest concentrations (ADPH, 2002). Fish tissue samples are screened by ADEM’s Environmental Laboratory for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), arsenic, chlordane, toxaphene, mercury, mirex, DDT, DDD, DDE, dieldrin, dursban, endrin, heptachlor, heptachlorepoxide, endosulfan, hexachlorobenzene, lindane, and certain heavy metals (ADEM, 1998). At the request of stakeholders, a summarized description (from the ADPH website) of the standard protocol for sampling fish tissues in Alabama has been included in Appendix B of this report. 3-2 4.0 FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORIES Based on fish toxin levels provided through the FTMP, the ADPH calculates potential risk to human consumers and issues consumption advisories as necessary. Advisories are based on the risk of cancer or other serious illnesses that may result from eating contaminated fish. Risk calculations are generally extremely conservative and highly protective. For example, excess cancer risk is usually expressed as 1 in 100,000 or 1 in 1,000,000 additional cancers over a lifetime of consumption. Advisories for non-cancer causing agents are usually based on chemical levels below which no adverse effects are found in animal studies. The level shown by animal studies to be safe is usually divided by 10 or more to determine a daily level of intake that is likely to be without risk of adverse health affects for humans. Women of childbearing age and children may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of toxic substances. Therefore, some advisories particularly limit consumption